1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to analysis of a view of a stereoscopic image and stereo synchronization, and more particularly, to stereo synchronization used to reproduce a stereoscopic image in a display device based on precisely displaying the stereoscopic image comprising images each having a different view.
2. Description of the Related Art
Stereo sync information indicating a degree of synchronization of a stereoscopic image is needed to reproduce the stereoscopic image. Stereo sync indicates whether a current image is a left view image or a right view image.
Image data only is input into a display device in order to reproduce a three-dimensional (3D) image. Most 3D image content that is currently manufactured and distributed contains left and right view image data but does not include a flag indicating whether a current frame is a left view image or a right view image. In more detail, since only the image data is transmitted when the stereoscopic image is transmitted to the display device, the display device cannot know whether the current frame is the left view image or the right view image.
Although a terminal has been developed to output stereo sync from graphic hardware such as a graphic card, the terminal is not employed in most currently available products, and if employed inflates costs due to a requirement for extra hardware.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between a video format conversion device 110 and a display device 120. Referring to FIG. 1, a stereoscopic image reproduction system 100 comprising the video format conversion device 110 and the display device 120 converts input left and right view images into a stereoscopic image in a display input format depending on the properties of the display device 120. The display device 120 receives the converted stereoscopic image and reproduces a 3D image having a stereo image effect.
Although stereo sync information of the stereoscopic image may be stored in the properties of the display device 120, a cable other than an output cable such as a digital visual interface (DVI) port is necessary for transmitting the stereo sync information, and as specific hardware is required, there is a strong possibility that it may not be supported.